October 2004
Media, Police, Politics, University Investigations are underway into how persons associated with The Daughters of the Desert managed to breach The Constabulary’s security around the “White Room” and destroy the archaeological find. Little is known as to the motives behind the attack, but what is known is that at about 9.30pm on Sunday 5th September 2004 about thirty persons attacked the security cordon. Reinforcements were quickly dispatched by The Constabulary to deal with the problem. At 10pm, the ensuing fire-fight reached its fiercest when a third, as yet unidentified group led by two individuals on a motorbike broke through The Daughters line. Approximately ten minutes later the archaeological site was destroyed by several explosions that led to the hospitalisation of a dozen members of The Constabulary. The authorities are asking for information as to any unusual movements in the area at the time. Legal, Police, Politics Preliminary investigations into the events surrounding the destruction of “The White Room” have confirmed the worst, the explosives used belonged to officers of The Constabulary. No explanation to the reason behind this has been forthcoming, and all personnel involved have been suspended without pay pending disciplinary action. The Constabulary has so far refused to comment on the matter claiming that it is purely rumour. Elsewhere the investigations are focussing upon a two minute gap in CCTV footage of the event at the time of the explosion. Legal, Media, Police, Politics, Underworld Whilst investigations into the manner of the attack upon “The White Room” have begun, one question that hasn’t been asked is why The Daughters of the Desert sought to destroy it? No plausible explanation has yet been found for the attack (or the repeated attempts of the last couple of months), although it has been speculated that it may have been an attempt to discredit The Constabulary and further destabilise local security. Whilst The Daughters would gain much from such an occurrence, so would their competitors. Meanwhile, arrest warrants have been issued for a number of identified members of The Daughters of the Desert following the incident. Police, University In addition to the attack upon “The White Room” on the 5th September 2004, members of The Constabulary are also investigating a possible break-in elsewhere on Keele Universities Campus at the same time, although the two incidents may be unrelated. Power was lost across the campus following a localised surge resulting in a loss of surveillance facilities. During this time period data was stolen on the drug “Milk” from a computers hard drive, although the authorities are keen to point out that this data was duplicated elsewhere. Investigations are set to continue. Occult The implications of the destruction of “The White Room” are far wider reaching than the mere loss of an archaeological dig site. The White Room was a focus for the city’s positive energies, a celebration of its well being. With its destruction we now enter a darker, more troubling period. Never before has the city existed without someone or something protecting it. This is very worrying. ''-James Helmudson, Head of the Unification Theorists Elect.'' Bureaucracy, Legal, Media, Politics What was the significance of “The White Room”? Whilst the destruction of such a significant archaeological find has dealt a crippling blow to the city’s universities (who are also recovering from the murder of Professor Andreas Tyron), a more pertinent question s what does this mean for the city? If a criminal organisation is able to attack and destroy such a heavily guarded site, what does this mean for the security of the rest of the city? As a result of the attack security surrounding the trial of Andrew Sant has been increased in case of further attempts upon his life are made by The Daughters of the Desert. Legal, Media At the trial of Andrew Sant, the case for the prosecution has now been drawn to a close. In closing, the prosecution provided irrefutable proof of Sant’ involvement in the assassination of Sean Bowden (as a by-product of such, the charges against “The Samurai” have also been dropped). The evidence consists of a thirty second audio tape indicating that Sant fired the fatal shot. The tape has only now come to light following a request for copies of videos and photographs taken during the evening of December 5th 2003 earlier in the year. Although the video does not show the incident the audio has been accepted by the court. No comment with regards the evidence has been forthcoming from the defence team. Bureaucracy, High Society, Legal, Politics Doubts have been thrown over the true identity of Louise Brooks after a search of both British and Swiss records indicated that no one of that name had married an Andrew Sant for the last twenty years (well outside of the time frame established by her story). Indeed, no records of any actress named Louise Brooks working in Switzerland for the same period exist either. One theory is that she may be an agent for a foreign power (it is well documented that Sant has worked for a number of foreign intelligence agencies) sent to establish what Sant had told the court and eliminate him if he posed a threat, but this remains pure speculation. Legal, Politics Andrew Sant’s defence team have called for a one week recess in order to establish their case following the evidence indicating that Sant had assassinated Sean Bowden. Sant had entered a plea of “Not Guilty” at the start of the trial and it is believed that the defence may be re-evaluating the plea. However, this could create an interesting legal precedent as the prosecution team is seeking the death sentence (as they are able to do in a military court) and a plea of “Guilty” would make it difficult to pursue. Proceedings are due to commence once again on Monday 4th October. Media, Police Investigations are underway into a possible break-in at a Youth Remand Centre in Werrington. Members of The Constabulary were called to the centre when a tunnel beneath the fence was found by a passing patrol. Further investigations revealed that a ventilation duct into the building had been removed to allow access to the facilities. Curiously, the incident was not reported by staff until the morning after the break-in and a search of the premises indicated that nothing was missing. The Constabulary is set to investigate the matter further. Media, Occult Curious anomaly one thousand and three in an ongoing series; cleaning companies across the city have reported a rise in incidents of salt staining in a number of properties (but never the same property twice). In each case the building appears to have been flooded with salt water, with signs of tide marks and algae commonly found in the sea. No rational explanation has been found for the phenomena despite an investigation of nearby sewers in each case. Media, Occult, University Driftwood was found in Hanley Forest Park last week, nothing unusual there then. However, the wood was from a tree found only on a few Pacific islands and is internationally protected. How it got to Hanley nobody knows, but what is worrying botanists and oceanists even more is the fact that on analysis water found within the wood matched samples taken form the Pacific. Everyone involved is still scratching their heads. Bureaucracy, Finance, Industry, Legal Further details regarding the funding of Saturn XI have emerged following investigations by the Inland Revenue. The money was provided by a European Bank (based in Switzerland) and secured on a loan from Reed Communications. However this creates an interesting situation. As a company, Reed are set to lose the most from the implementation of the Saturn XI scheme, however if they have a controlling interest in the project they will benefit from any business no matter who provides it. A further complication is the position of the Asharaka who have recently tried to complete a deal with the remnants of the Reed board to buy the company outright. Despite more information the question of who really controls Saturn XI remains unclear. Finance, Industry, University Details continue to be released about the technology surrounding the Saturn XI success story. The conductive liquid used to enable the technology has been identified as a possible derivative of the drug “Milk”, although this has still to be confirmed. However, both Saturn XI and Reed Communications have gone on record stating that the liquid was developed in an independent laboratory in Singapore and that at no time was any drug, legal or illegal used as a starting point for experimentation. Further inquiries into both company’s methods are being undertaken by independent analysts. Finance, Industry, Legal, Media The joint statements by Saturn XI and Reed Communications have furthered reports that the two companies may in fact be linked. Although neither party will go on record to discuss the rumour, investigations into both have shown a number of correlations, specifically the apparent financing of one company by the other. Reed are unable to comment on the matter due to a potential buy out by the Asharaka. Media, Street, Underworld The Daughters of the Desert have suffered a setback following a loss of territory to The Gambinos. It was previously thought that the group had all but permanently secured the Bradwell area, but due to thinning out of their numbers in an attempt to annex the Hanley area The Gambino’s were able to capitalise on a reduced presence in the area. Following a short, but bloody, fight The Gambino’s were able to secure a number of key strategic points from The Daughters in the area. However, despite their loses The Daughters of the Desert remain the strongest gang in the city, having recently made territorial gains towards the centre. Street, Underworld With the continued presence of “Milk” as the drug of choice on the streets, the price of all other narcotics continues to drop due to there being no market. Furthermore, if you want to get involved in the distribution of “Milk” then you need to get yourself affiliated with The Daughters of the Desert, not an easy proposition as their entrance requirement is that you knock off a member of The Gambinos. Street, Transport The opportunities to make money on the side by smuggling contraband into the city are dwindling, at least whilst the sole source of “Milk” is within the city. A more lucrative proposition than drug smuggling is weapons, provided you can get good enough quality. Failing that you can always sell your vehicle for scrap, provided it’s made of aluminium of course. Health, Media, Police The fight to find a cure to “Milk” addiction continues despite numerous setbacks. Research is still focussing upon the conductive properties of the drug and whether the drug can be “polluted” to carry an antidote. If this is the case then it would be possible to treat the addiction at the source by removing the addictive qualities. However the problem would be in ensuring that such a policy went hand in hand with a removal of the drug from the city’s streets, a tricky proposition at best. Health, Street Whilst the search for a cure to “Milk” addiction continues the number of addicts in the city also continues to increase. One particular point of concern is the health effects of the drug for addicts. Whilst it was well publicised that the previous incarnation lead to suicidal tendencies in a number of users, the new incarnations side effects are much more worrying. Doctors are reporting that a number of addicts seem to be showing signs of developing Porphyria, or Vampirism. This relatively rare disease leaves sufferers displaying all of the “classic” signs of vampirism; aversion to sunlight, pallid complexion and a need to consume small quantities of blood. Because of the rarity of the disease there are few known treatments, leaving sufferers with severe medical problems for the rest of their lives. Church, Media, Occult In a move that has left more than few people confused, the Vatican has once again dispatched a team lead by William Raymond to investigate church issues in the city. What is of particular alarm is that the group he is heading claim to be Professional Vampire Hunters! Officially the church denied the earthly existence of supernatural elements during the last century. Unofficially however it has been well publicised that they have continued to fund what can only be described as fringe elements for more “delicate” work. Has William Raymond returned to the city to finish his brother’s work? Church Could the churches decision (or was it their decision, after all it’s so completely out of character) to dispatch a team of Professional Vampire Hunters to the city be linked to “Milk” addiction? Or is the title hiding something else altogether? After all, William Raymond did leave the city in a hurry last time and no real progress was made in that investigation (they came to the same conclusion that The Constabulary had three months ago). Does William Raymond have a different agenda and is he using the church to cover his actions? The only sure thing is that a number of people will be watching him very closely to see what happens over the next few months. Media, Police, Politics, Transport All air traffic across the city was closed by The Constabulary on the 12th September 2004, but no explanation for the action has yet been forthcoming. One possibility is that they were acting on a tip-off about a possible terrorist incident, but this seems unlikely given that in such an event local government is required to be informed of the threat as well. One possible explanation is that they were transporting something into or out of the city. But the question is what? Media, Police, Transport All ports and entries into the UK have been put onto a high state of alert following information that the terrorist known as “White Flowers” may have left the United States for the UK. The alert came when video footage taken from Dallas Airport indicated that the main suspect had boarded a plane bound for London. Agents from both US and UK intelligence agencies were sent to intercept the flight but the suspect was not found. It is now thought that he may not have boarded the flight and be making his way to the UK by other means. Investigations are set to continue. Finance, Media, Police, Politics Video footage of the individual at the centre of the search for the terrorist “White Flowers” has been shown worldwide following last months attacks of five casinos in Las Vegas. The footage of the unidentified individual is also to be distributed to all households in the UK following an alert that he may be trying to enter the country. So far “White Flowers” has been responsible for the loss of over three quarters of a billion dollars from a number of companies (a cost that has been felt in the main by a number of Swiss Banks), although curiously no one has been killed or permanently injured in any of the attacks. The attacks have been marked by their precision, timing and planning, although no reason for the attacks has yet been established. Bureaucracy, High Society, Politics The unveiling of four new works of art in the city centre certainly caught everyone by surprise; it would appear that no one knew they were proposed! The administrative error was quickly rectified allowing the works to be displayed. Confusion is now being caused by what they mean; the four figures show no commonality except for a small chalice on each piece. All explanations will be gratefully received by the author.